2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, coached by Brian Kelly, played its homes game in Nippert Stadium. Kelly was in his second full season with the Bearcats after coaching them to a 31–21 win against Southern Miss in the 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl. On Friday, November 28, 2008, the Bearcats clinched a share of the Big East Conference title for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005. With a victory over Syracuse on November 29, 2008 the Bearcats became the outright football champions of the Big East and set a record with an average attendance of 31,964. After a disappointing loss to Virginia Tech in the 2009 Orange Bowl, the Bearcats finished 17th in the AP Poll for the second consecutive year. With West Virginia falling off Cincinnati became the front runner to win the big east.

2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Big East champion
Orange Bowl, L 7–20 vs Virginia Tech
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 17
Record	11–3 (6–1 Big East)
Head coach	Brian Kelly (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Quinn (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Tresey (2nd season)
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium
Seasons ← 2007 2009 →

2008 Big East Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 17 Cincinnati $		6	–	1					11	–	3
Pittsburgh		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 23 West Virginia		5	–	2					9	–	4
Rutgers		5	–	2					8	–	5
Connecticut		3	–	4					8	–	5
South Florida		2	–	5					8	–	5
Louisville		1	–	6					5	–	7
Syracuse		1	–	6					3	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	7:30 pm	Eastern Kentucky*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH		W 40–7	26,913
September 6	3:30 pm	at No. 4 Oklahoma*		Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ABC	L 26–52	84,476
September 20	7:30 pm	Miami (OH)*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (Victory Bell)	ESPN360	W 45–20	31,629
September 27	7:30 pm	at Akron*		Rubber Bowl Akron, OH	FSN Ohio	W 17–15	16,927
October 3	8:00 pm	at Marshall*		Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ESPN	W 33–10	29,237
October 11	12:00 pm	Rutgers		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	W 13–10	32,370
October 25	12:00 pm	at Connecticut		Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT	Big East Network	L 16–40	40,000
October 30	7:45 pm	No. 23 South Florida		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	W 24–10	31,175
November 8	7:00 pm	at No. 20 West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	ESPNU	W 26–23 OT	59,834
November 14	8:00 pm	at Louisville	No. 22	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY (Keg of Nails)	ESPN2	W 28–20	37,822
November 22	7:15 pm	No. 20 Pittsburgh	No. 19	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (River City Rivalry)	ESPN2	W 28–21	35,098
November 29	12:00 pm	Syracuse	No. 16	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	W 30–10	34,603
December 6	11:30 pm	at Hawaii*	No. 13	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	ESPN2	W 29–24	40,549
January 1	8:00 pm	No. 19 Virginia Tech*	No. 12	Dolphin Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl)	FOX	L 7–20	73,602
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	—	RV	22	19	16	13	12	17
Coaches Poll	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	22	20	16	12	12	17
Harris	Not released					RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	23	20	16	13	12	Not released
BCS	Not released								—	—	—	22	19	16	13	12	Not released

Game summaries

Eastern Kentucky

See also: 2008 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eastern Kentucky	0	0	7	0	7
Cincinnati	6	20	14	0	40

^[1]

Oklahoma

See also: 2008 Oklahoma Sooners football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	0	13	7	6	26
#4 Oklahoma	14	7	21	10	52

^[2]

Miami

See also: 2008 Miami RedHawks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miami	0	13	7	0	20
Cincinnati	10	14	14	7	45

^[3]

Akron

See also: 2008 Akron Zips football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	7	0	7	3	17
Akron	3	6	0	6	15

^[4]

Marshall

See also: 2008 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	2	14	10	7	33
Marshall	0	3	7	0	10

^[5]

Rutgers

See also: 2008 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rutgers	0	0	10	0	10
Cincinnati	3	7	3	0	13

^[6]

Connecticut

See also: 2008 Connecticut Huskies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cincinnati	10	3	3	0	16
Connecticut	10	0	10	20	40

^[7]

South Florida

See also: 2008 South Florida Bulls football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 South Florida	7	0	3	0	10
Cincinnati	10	7	0	7	24

^[8]

West Virginia

See also: 2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Cincinnati	13	7	0	0	6	26
#20 West Virginia	7	0	0	13	3	23

^[9]

Louisville

See also: 2008 Louisville Cardinals football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Cincinnati	7	7	7	7	28
Louisville	7	10	3	0	20

^[10]

Pittsburgh

See also: 2008 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Pittsburgh	7	0	0	14	21
#19 Cincinnati	0	14	7	7	28

^[11]

Syracuse

See also: 2008 Syracuse Orange football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Syracuse	0	3	0	7	10
#16 Cincinnati	7	6	10	7	30

Hawaii

See also: 2008 Hawaii Warriors football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Cincinnati	3	7	0	19	29
Hawaii	0	3	14	7	24

Virginia Tech

Main article: 2009 Orange Bowl

See also: 2008 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Cincinnati	7	0	0	0	7
#21 Virginia Tech	0	10	3	7	20

Awards and milestones

All-Americans

• Kevin Huber, P

Post-season finalists and winners

• Ray Guy Award: Punter of the Year - Kevin Huber (finalist)

Big East Conference honors

• Special Teams Player of the Year: Mardy Gilyard^[12]
• Coach of the Year: Brian Kelly^[12]

Offensive player of the week

• Week 1: Dustin Grutza^[12]

Defensive player of the week

• Week 10: Aaron Webster^[12]

Special teams player of the week

• Week 2: Mardy Gilyard^[12]
• Week 6: Connor Barwin^[12]
• Week 7: Kevin Huber^[12]
• Week 10: Mardy Gillard^[12]
• Week 13: Jacob Rogers^[12]

Big East Conference All-Conference First Team

Mardy Gilyard, WR Mardy Gilyard, KR

Connor Barwin, DL Mike Mickens, DB Brandon Underwood, DB Kevin Huber, P

^[12]

Big East Conference All-Conference Second Team

Dominick Goodman, WR Trevor Canfield, OL Tony Pike, QB

Terrill Byrd, DL

^[12]

Players in the 2009 NFL Draft

See also: 2009 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Connor Barwin	DE	2	46	Houston Texans
Kevin Huber	P	5	142	Cincinnati Bengals
DeAngelo Smith	CB	5	143	Dallas Cowboys
Brandon Underwood	S	6	187	Green Bay Packers
Mike Mickens	CB	7	227	Dallas Cowboys
Trevor Canfield	G	7	254	Arizona Cardinals

References

1. "Eastern Kentucky vs Cincinnati (Aug 28, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
2. "Oklahoma vs Cincinnati (Sept 6, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
3. "Miami vs Cincinnati (Sept 17, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
4. "Akron vs Cincinnati (Sept 27, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
5. "Marshall vs Cincinnati (Oct 3, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
6. "Cincinnati vs Rutgers (Oct 11, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
7. "Connecticut vs Cincinnati (Oct 25, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
8. "Cincinnati vs South Florida (Oct 30, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
9. "West Virginia vs Cincinnati (Nov 7, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
10. "Louisville vs Cincinnati (Nov 14, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
11. "Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati (Nov 22, 2008)". University of Cincinnati Sports Information. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
12. "2011 Cincinnati Media Guide" (PDF). University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved December 22, 2018.